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The Nobel Peace Prize is a well-known award given to people or organizations that have worked improve the world. This year’s award went to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmend Ali. The leader was given the award “for his efforts to achieve peace and international cooperation,” especially to solve a conflict between Ethiopia and its neighbor Eritrea.

History of the Nobel Peace Prize

When Swedish businessman Alfred Nobel died in 1895, he left 31.5 million Swedish crowns in his will. The money was used to fund a a prize given each year to a person or group that had the greatest benefit for humanity.

The first Nobel Peace Prize was awarded in 1901 and shared between two people: Frenchman Frederic Passy and the Swiss Jean Henry Dunant.

Past Winners of the Nobel Peace Prize

For more than 100 years, the Norwegian Committee has been awarding the Nobel Prize. Sometimes, organizations have received the honor, such as the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (2017), Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (2013), Doctors Without Borders (1999), United Nations Peacekeeping Forces (1988), and the Red Cross.

Alfred Nobel

Other times, individuals have received the award. In 2009, Barack Obama received the award after being president for less than nine months. Former President Jimmy Carter was honored in 2002. In 1906, Theodore Roosevelt received the award for “having negotiated peace in the Russo-Japanese war.” Roosevelt was the first national leader to receive the prize, and it was not a popular choice at the time. Former president Woodrow Wilson won in 1919 for being the “leading architect of the League of Nations.”

National Correspondent at LibertyNation.com and LNGenZ.com. Kelli Ballard is an author, editor, and publisher. Her writing interests span many genres including a former crime/government reporter, fiction novelist, and playwright. Originally a Central California girl, Kelli now resides in the Seattle area.